This is a copy of a pilot blog which ran to December 2005 - it is not linked to the software powering search, commenting etc.
The current blog is online but we've left this in the old format for reference and so we don't lose (m)any visitors.
For more practical news and information for those involved with voluntary and community groups in the UK, see VolResource website. Or go direct to our main VoluntaryNews page. The weekly email newsletter has a new easy subscription system, Nov 05.
From NCVO ICT Foresight blog:
The Hansard Society is working together with the NCVO on the first strand of the [ICT Foresight?] project - on Democracy, campaigning and activism. The research is designed to illustrate ways in which information and communication technology (ICT) might empower charitable, community and voluntary sector organisations and their supporters and identify comparisons with citizen engagement in politics.
The research will begin with a survey of current uses and expectation of ICT in the voluntary and community sector which is going to be launched in January 2006. We are also looking for case-studies that will provide us with personal testimonies and examples of successes and possible pit-falls.
If you are aware of an organisation using technology to engage with stakeholders or promote campaigns in innovative ways please email us via edemocracy@hansard.lse.ac.uk
- Visit the blog, linked above, for updates.
Brand republic Data Bulletin has an article on the data processing behind the launch (publicly this week) of GuideStar UK the online charity database:
Experian is helping charity GuideStar UK launch a free web-based encyclopaedia of the 167,000 registered charities in England and Wales.
More: Experian helps GuideStar provide insight into charities - Data Bulletin - Data news by Email - Brand Republic
From:EurActiv:
After concerns expressed by the Council of Europe and European NGOs, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a controversial bill on nongovernmental organisations to be "thorougly revised".
More: here: After European pressure, Putin announces softer NGO law
About time we picked up a posting from other blogs we keep an eye on. At Kevin Harris' neighbourhood blog:
Reporting on discussions at a recent seminar on neighbourhood governance organised by The Young Foundation with CDF and Bassac, he looks at a key question of "Do we need unity of voice – consensus – for neighbourhood governance?” Plus more - see quote below.
Neighbourhoods: Community, consensus, and neighbourhood governance
How far the ODPM and the Home Office can push their expectations of voluntary activity?. Rose Ardron, from Sheffield NDC, said:
“I do two days a week on this and I get tired. My colleagues who are also volunteers, get tired. People aren’t breaking down the doors to get involved in local forums.”
A colleague was telling me recently about a local activist who does 76 hours of volunteering per week: he’s seriously ill. Of another it was noted recently, that to be an activist in your own street is exhausting. I just don’t get the impression that this factor has featured much in what has been thus far an overwhelmingly top-down debate.
Apologies for the problems with our main web site (www.volresource.org.uk and similar) on Thursday 1st Dec. Our web server hosting arrangement got its electrons in a twist for a few hours. Everyhting was back to normal late evening.
A new report finds that older people are actively using the net to ‘make their voice heard’.
Short quote from netimperative:
The survey of 1,000 Web users aged between 50 and 65, commissioned by digital communications connsultancy Panlogic, found that the older generation are driving the Internet’s ‘digital conscience’.
More than a third (35%) of respondents stated that they have signed a petition online, while 28% have made charitable donations online.
Netimperative - Silver surfers becoming digital activists
Or go direct to the pdf report, 3.7MB (large), 'Our digital conscience', although there seems to be some typographical quirks making it a bit difficult to read'
We're experimenting with turning some VolResource pages into 'wiki' format, where people can make their own contributions. (We'll be keeping the old stuff too for the moment at least!)
We've transferred a couple of pages to start with, which might particularly benefit from outside input (there has been some already fed into the existing pages). Namely Taxonomy, Planning and Monitoring.
Take a look at www.voluntarynews.org/wiki. Comments and suggestions welcome, on the wiki, here or by email.
The Guardian's annual review of corporate social responsibility takes a look at non-financial tie-ups between voluntary organisations and business, around campaigns.
Quote from article:
Amnesty International, for example, has worked with companies operating in zones of conflict to train business executives in human rights issues. Greenpeace, too, has for many years been working with industry, including recently with nPower to develop and promote a jointly branded renewable energy product in the UK.
More:
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Campaigners get into the business of business
